“The Road” to Spiti Valley
Some moments stay in your life forever.
One such moment for me was getting behind the wheel driving through what according to me is the most challenging terrain I have ever seen. The “road” between Chatru to Badal is actually a dried river bed. And driving on it is an art. It needs focus, patience and skill. To be honest, I was not sure if I could do this. One wrong bump could mean we are stranded till help reaches us. One badly timed turn could be the difference between life and death. A lot rests on the driver. But a little encouragement from Nitish and I was ready to go for it, fully confident. The skill of running our big girl (read Scorpio) on clutch which I had practiced time and again in Delhi, came in handy. So did the 4-wheel driving sessions during the Delhi monsoon. And gradually, at the rate of 10km/hr we inched towards Batal. The bumps and constant lack of “roads” can be very irritating. But the breathtaking views more than make up for it. Very soon after leaving Chatru, the Lahaul valley revealed itself giving a glimpse of the Spiti valley. We were the only vehicle for kilometres and kilometres with an occasional bus or truck or bikers crossing our path. I wish I could say that I drove the entire way but there is a lot for me to learn.
Handing over the steering to Nitish I had time to be totally mesmerised by the views. The sky is the most blue I have ever seen and I could not take my eyes off it. We often paused to click pictures and breathe in the view. We often switched off the music and turned off the car to come to terms with the silence.
What was very endearing was that whenever we had stopped to take in the gorgeous landscapes and a vehicle passed us by, it would invariably stop to ask if we needed help.
In this part of the world life is so dependent on each other that it brings out the best in humanity. Human values of being helpful, generosity, team-work — you can see it all in action here. But only till Rohtang on this side and perhaps Nako on the other. Coz the moment you “cross over” your business and my business is different and our dependency on each other goes away!
It took us almost 3 hours to cover over 30km but we were not exhausted. After an enjoyable meal at the famous Chandra Dhaba at Batal and a quick chat with their owners, popularly known as Chacha Chachi we decided to cross over the revered Kunzum La into Spiti Valley. Chachaji suggested we camp at Takcha, a few kilometres before the village of Losar. And we knew a veteran like him will never go wrong.
Kunzum proved to be a smooth ride unlike last time we were here. As we ascended the mountain pass, we could see a storm building on the nearby mountains. Very soon we were on the other side — in the gorgeous Spiti valley. And soon enough we were in Takcha. A little bit of off-roading, testing our car through slush and we found ourselves on top of a green mountain, Spiti valley on the right, Spiti river below us, massive mountains on the left and in the front. The map said that if a crow flew straight on from here, it would hit Baralacha. I am yet to come across a better camping site.
We knew there is no village or human around us. We knew that we will be the only souls in the midst of the mountains. But yes we were ready to do this. Camp at Takcha! As we made up our mind with a wide smile at the upcoming adventure, we turned back to the car to get our stuff. A strong whirlwind of sand engulfed us. After a few seconds we managed to look up towards Kunzum, the same storm we saw a little while back was headed our way. And it was headed our way very fast.
I felt like Rob Hall in Everest, standing at the summit and turning back to see the storm headed his way. There was no time to waste and we would not make the same mistake as Rob Hall.
We were both disappointed but this camping site would have to wait for another day. And that my friend is one of the best decisions we have made. Why? You will find out in the next post!
